The sounds I never heard...

Today I received my hearing aids.

To be honest, I was a bit skeptical about it all. Was my hearing really that bad? Was it really--

Sure. I was one of those people who turned the television up really, really loud, and frankly, it was never loud enough. I'd known for a long time that I couldn't hear my family during dinner conversations, or in family gatherings and I had just given up conversing. I struggled to understand people in public settings, and fudged my way around most get-togethers with people. I'm naturally shy and melancholy, so, if I missed something here or there I could manage with a smile, a nod and a laugh.

But I was still a bit skeptical, even though, for many years now, I'm had a growing inkling that something was wrong. My sister was having to translate more conversations for me when we took trips in the car with Mum and Dad, this was more noticeable now because we're adults, and we have adult conversations - while - when we were kids, you never really paid that much attention to what your parents were saying on trips.

Now though, Mel had to constantly relay what was being said back to me.

And if I took a trip with Mum and Dad without Mel - well - I just gave up hearing my parents at all.

And I was having trouble hearing my nephews, something they were picking up on. Everyone else heard them fine, but I couldn't hear them. As much as it was a funny joke that I was a bit deaf -- it nibbled on the back of my mind.

What if --

What if I actually couldn't hear things.

So I went to get it checked.

And it came back as being moderate to severe hearing loss - but - it didn't hit me what that truly meant until today. Nothing prepared me for today. I cannot believe how much I have been missing out on. I am overwhelmed and I don't think I can process the enemority of the whole thing very well either...

As soon as I start letting myself think, I start crying.

It might take a few days.

I have never heard the clicking sound of my keyboard, nor the clicking of my mouse, and now, in my office, I can hear them so clearly. But the most incredible thing is the birds. I have all my windows open, and I can hear birds.

I have never heard the birds before.

I have lived in my house for four years and I have never heard the birds. I have sat out on the front porch, enjoying the beautiful